Sure, and tobacco and alcohol taxes only do a mild job in curbing consumption - the collectors of the excise taxes are designed and marketed to draw people in.

Sure, and tobacco and alcohol taxes only do a mild job in curbing consumption - the collectors of the excise taxes are designed and marketed to draw people in. A 'sin tax' really only operates at the margin and are -clearly- not effective at stopping people with a dependence on the 'sin'. At most it encourages under-consumption with people who only have a mild tendency to use that product.